srijanagarwal

A weekend trip to Dubrovik, Croatia!

July 20, 2018 – Travel

Lately my decision making has been all about avoiding disappointments in the
future. Whenever I approach a decision, I tend to ask myself
which option I’m going to regret later.

Will I regret working more and not going out often?
Maybe, but what about my excitement to learn something new.
Will I regret drinking more alcohol? Possibly, but what about the fun and
the enjoyment with my friends while having it? Would I have regretted not
going to this beautiful, old city of Dubrovik in Croatia? YESSS, OFCOURSE YESSS!!!

Dubrovik Airport!

Dubrovnik, Croatia has an aura about it. The name is just so exotic, no?
Anyway, this beautiful city is famous for it’s old city walls, especially since it was used as the setting for King’s Landing in Game Of Thrones. In 1979 it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site and is therefore extremely popular with tourists and cruise ships in the summer months. It’s also stunningly beautiful and ridiculously clean. You are constantly berated by pictures of Dubrovnik on social media and to see it for yourself is to realise the photos don’t even do it a bit justice.

Yes, I am happy when I travel!

Anyway, enough of that! Here’s what I got up to in two days in Dubrovnik.

Day 1

For the first day, I had already booked a guide, Helena{highly recommended} for showing me the old city and the sites where Games of Thrones were shot.

Port of the old city!

We started the tour from the Pile Gate entrance of the Old City. Walking through this area of the town I could almost hear the rattle of old wooden carts and the clicking of horse hooves echoing off the high stone walls. Helena made sure that we know about the fascinating history of Dubrovnik, the very recent wars of the 1990s and how it affected Croatia and Dubrovnik in general. I recently finished watching Game of Thrones (which ofcourse was one of my reasons to visit Croatia), so the “backstory” of the filming was amazing for me in terms of plots and palace intrigue.

Main street of the old Dubrovnik!

After the amazing tour, I escaped the crowd by heading to Dubravka 1836, a little restaurant just beside the King’s landing.

The food here is so good, there’s often a queue but when you do sit down you’ll be treated to the most fantastic Croatian grilled seafood and delicious wine.

Then, I took a trip up the cable car to the panorama lookout with the most stunning views of the city and the sea, the outlook here was just spectacular and I actually felt like I was on top of the world!

View from the top of the cable car.

Thereafter, I went to an extremely insightful museum about the Yugoslavian war from the 1990’s. It’s hard to believe that only 20 or so years ago, the entire landscape was filled with shells and military.

As I didn’t know much about the war, I found this a very interesting and enlightening experience.

Also, since the quarter-final match between Croatia and Russia was supposed to be on that night, I made sure that I buy my favorite Croatia’s player jersey! I watched the match at the city center, and what an insane match it was. I’ve not seen people crazier than Croatians. The celebrations after the final Rakitic penalty was one of the best ever! {best was yet to come in France xD}

Day 2

Grilled chicken ❤

For my final day, I and my few hostel mates decided to rent a motor boat and go see the nearby Elafiti islands. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We had the motorboat and the freedom to take it anywhere we want :D We went on to see the islands of Koločep, Šipan, and Lopud. My Australian friend who was a cook, cooked a fantastic grilled fish and chicken lunch for all of us. One of the best meals I’ve had in Croatia!

It goes without saying that I have no regrets about our trip to Dubrovnik. I enjoyed great weather, delicious food, the ocean and ofcourse, a great football match. :)